Sci-Tech Daresbury aims to build on success

Sci-Tech Daresbury aims to build on success

ONE of the UK’s leading science and innovation campuses, Sci-Tech Daresbury, has submitted a planning application for the speculative development of a new 42,000 sq. ft. grade A office complex.

The proposed scheme, codenamed Project Violet, will see the construction of two buildings providing 12,000 sq. ft. each and one building providing 18,000 sq. ft. The buildings will be three storeys high, situated at the gateway of the campus on Innovation Way.

Each building will provide floor plates of around 3,500 to 6,000 sq. ft. and as part of the work there will be major landscaping improvements around the site.

The project will cost c£12m and is funded using the Enterprise Zone retained business rates and investment from the site’s joint venture partners; developers Langtree, the Science and Technology Facilities Council and Halton Borough Council.

Subject to consent, it would represent the latest phase of development at the award-winning site, which has been substantially upgraded and expanded over the last two years. It follows the recent investment and the opening of the £20m Techspace One and Two buildings earlier in the year. If the application is successful, the project could start on site as early as summer 2018 with completion 12 months later.

Earlier this week, Sci-Tech Daresbury was praised by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as it launched its Industrial Strategy White Paper. A study, based on the most recent data available - 2014/15, which measured the economic impact and wider impacts of Sci-Tech Daresbury revealed that the campus is worth an estimated £163m to the national economy.

Additionally, in May this year, Sci-Tech Daresbury was named as the science campus making the most significant contribution to innovation in the UK at the prestigious UK Science Park Association (UKSPA) member awards.

Neal Biddle, group development director of Langtree and board member of the Sci-Tech Daresbury joint venture company, said: “The fact we are committed to further speculative development by delivering much needed grade A office space in the region underlines not only our on-going success, but also our commitment to the region and the market demand for what we are proposing.

“The campus is now home to more than 120 businesses and more are relocating every week and so the need for more space is critical. Our recent UKSPA accolade, our Enterprise Zone status and the opening of the high specification Techspace One and Two buildings earlier this year, have cemented our reputation as a world-class location where business can innovate and flourish.

“There is a critical need to invest in Sci-Tech Daresbury infrastructure for economic development and to help the UK to be able to compete in global markets, an understanding and a vision shared by all our partners.”